Tata Martino’s description of Atlanta United’s 4-1 loss to Orlando City in the U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals was fitting. PelÃcula de terror. A horror movie.
But every bit of it was real, down to the four goals Atlanta shipped in the first half against its chief rival.
Martino shouldered the blame for the result, one that saw him go with a backline of five defenders. Eliás Báez and Matt Edwards were positioned as the outside backs, their natural positions, with Stian Gregersen serving as one of the centerbacks. The wrinkle, though, was that Pedro Amador and Ronald Hernández were used as centerbacks.
It led to disastrous results for Atlanta.
“My responsibility,” Martino said through an interpreter after the match. “It’s all on me. No responsibility on the players.”
One after the other, the goals went in. In the fourth minute, David Brekalo made it 1-0 before Griffin Dorsey upped the lead to 2-0 at the quarter-hour mark. Tiago then added a pair in the 23rd minute and the fourth minute of first-half stoppage time to put the visitors down 4-0 at the break.
If not for some key saves from Jayden Hibbert, the result could have been worse, though the Atlanta keeper’s error led to the first of Tiago’s two goals on the evening.
“I understood that the team was about to evolve in their game. And the idea was to pair up with the five forwards that (Orlando) sometimes used,” Martino said. “We weren’t prepared for that, so it’s absolutely my responsibility,” Martino said.
Martino later added that the way Orlando played in the first 30 minutes of Saturday’s 1-1 draw — along with the opportunity to rotate his lineup — led him to play five at the back.
“I understood that we had to take advantage of the players we had with much fewer minutes than their players. Now, obviously, my reading was wrong. But now, clearly, my lesson was mistaken,” he said.
It will make for a sour trip back to Atlanta with one match remaining until the World Cup break: a trip to Columbus on Sunday to face the Crew, who fired Henrik Rydstrom after just 14 matches and appointed Laurent Courtois as interim head coach.
“We know we have one more match before the World Cup break. We know that likely we will be out of the playoff picture into the break, or close to it,” Martino said.
“We will have to work hard during the break, and then take on the second half with the right mentality, and do the best that we can to compete for a spot.”
If we were in the Premier League, that’s the kind of loss a coach gets fired for.
While I acknowledge Tata’s taking responsibility (and agree he got the tactics wrong), I disagree with his statement that the players weren’t responsible – they clearly were. Also have to disagree with the statements that we had a realistic chance to win the US Open Cup – we did not, we’re simply not good enough and would have lost in the next round anyway.
Well, to be honest, I thought the 3-5-2 or 5-3-2 could work; especially just by sheer numbers on the midfield. Obviously we don’t have the kind of players capable of executing this scheme. I think Tata is showing us and the FO how bad some players are; he is trying every player, different formations but the pieces don’t fit.
So far, Tata II has been an abject failure. He is so stubborn. Has never respected the US Open Cup (which is our only chance at a trophy this year.). Just awful by this club. Just awful.
So is Tata submitting his resignation?